All Summary, No Substance
The executive summary below is actually an altered and disguised version of a real executive summary. But it remains as badly done in this state as it was... Read story
David E. Gumpert
Tough Love: What You Really Want from Your Advisory Board
The scene was the quarterly meeting of the advisory board for NetMarquee, the online direct marketing agency I cofounded. My partner, Paul Baudisch, and I... Read story
The Basics of Business Plans: Sell, Sell, Sell
You've probably heard all the academic and formal definitions of a business plan--something to the effect that it's a document describing your company's g... Read story
The Finer Points of a Business Plan
Here is a brief overview of the contents of the written plan. Keep in mind that after the first two items, the titles of the subsequent sections can vary.... Read story
Executive Summary as a Guiding Light
A good executive summary is hard to write. It should present your entire business plan in miniature. Read story
Filling In Your Plan: What to Say Where
Here is a brief overview of the contents of the written plan. Keep in mind that after the first two items, the titles of thesubsequent sections can vary. ... Read story
Putting Your Business Idea to the Test
When entrepreneurs ask me about the potential of an idea for a new business, I invariably ask some probing questions. I am trying to determine the followi... Read story
Turning a Great Idea into a Practical Business
You have a terrific idea for a new business. But before rushing ahead to implement it, consider the following: Have you seen the idea... Read story
Pick the Target Audience, Then Tailor Your Plan
One of the key steps in preparing your business plan is targeting it to the right audience. If you're seeking out financing, for example, will your pl... Read story
Keeping a Start-Up Simple
Once you're ready to launch, how can you make sure you start out on the right foot? In this excerpt from How to Really Start Your Own Business, e... Read story
Success by Association
As you start your business, you aren't solely in control of your success. Suppliers, creditors, and your competition will mold your every move. In this ex... Read story
Planning for Chaos in a Start-Up
No matter how hard you try to prepare, unexpected problems will erupt in your new start-up. In this excerpt from How to Really Start Your Own Business... Read story
Get More Out of Your Cash
The more you can squeeze out of your cash, the better off you are. That is true, but only to a point. Your efforts to get more out of your cash must be ba... Read story
Venture Capitalists Don't Relish Risk
Probably the key fact for entrepreneurs to remember about venture capital firms is that their names are misleading. Though the term venture capitalRead story
Protecting Your Intellectual Property the Affordable Way
The matter of legally protecting your intellectual property can get quite complex -- and expensive. You likely don't want to spend endless hours sorting t... Read story
A Plan for All Seasons
In Chapter 1 of the book How to Really Create a Successful Business Plan, author David E. Gumpert suggests that a carefully crafted business plan... Read story
Making It All Add Up: The Financial Section of a Business Plan
Financial issues tend to be unpopular among entrepreneurs. Some find the subject tedious. Others find it intimidating. The result is that many entrepreneu... Read story
Playing It Straight;
A hot product, of course, is everybody's dream. But when your company grows so quickly that it can't pay its bills, the dream can turn into a nightmare. ... Read story
Birth Of An Industry;
"Industry" births have come easy to the 1980s: personal computing, robotics, biotech. All flared; some, at least momentarily, have fizzled; and now much ... Read story
Turnabout Is Fair Play
To protect yourself against foreign competition, you've got to compete internationally Read story
Which Customer Is Always Right?
Companies that don't sell directly to their end-users often wind up paying more attention to their distributors than to their consumers. FireKing's profits c... Read story
Reaganomics Revision
Your March review of The Insider's Guide to Small Business Resources, which I co-authored with Jeffry A. Timmons, states that it "was written before the R... Read story